+1.

All for trying things, thats whats great about tape, easy and cheap to change. I mean hell I ride a celeste bianchi an during this year I matched tape color so it was a little flashy but now its back to a classic white. I will give your bike a Hot since I really like the scott and the color of it

Can I ask "Hot or Not" just about a set of wheels? Ever since I got them, I've been meaning to post a picture of them here, but my photo skills are abominable. Tried getting some closeups and "glamor" shots of them inside - no luck. Tried again with the phone outside today, but the ones focusing in on the wheels, again, came out like crap. So here's a non-white-garage-door pic, just to give a general sense.
I know some will really dislike the skinwalls, but if there's no rubber there, why should they be black? - Challenge Strada tubulars. Corima 73 rims, Royce hubs.
https://www.bikeforums.net/picture.p...ctureid=528953
I kinda think they're too sexy for my bike, but maybe the photo doesn't do them justice.....

When will this skinwall/gumwall/non black tire thing be done already? Bike is pretty hot. Wheels are pretty hot. Distracted by the tires though. Looks completely out of place on the bike. Not a fan of the white bar tape either, but I see the white saddle and they have to match.

I haven't used Challenge tires, but I'd be very surprised if there's no rubber there. Even cold-glued tires nearly always have a rubber coating to protect the casing from the elements.

What does the presence of rubber have to do with it being black or not? Rubber naturally starts out white.

Tire tread rubber is usually black, but that's because good tread compounds usually contain a lot of black additive (i.e. carbon black).
The characteristics of the sidewall rubber on high-performance road tires aren't as critical since the sidewalls are just there as a thin water-resistance coating, not serving any role in traction or wearing against the ground. So, it's functionally not problematic for the sidewall rubber to just be dyed whatever color the designer feels like.

Never, as long as I can help it. D:

I think the wheels are too deep for this bike. I don't like the 12k weave, or gum walls on very deep wheels. The stack height looks massive. Not hot.

OK, so I had an inspiration this morning. Instead of trying to get nice shots of the wheels on the bike, I just took one off, threw it on the bed and got these:
https://www.bikeforums.net/picture.p...ctureid=528955
https://www.bikeforums.net/picture.p...ctureid=528956
So....

Right, but point is, whether it's rubber or not, it's not the same stuff as on the wear area. Only the wear area has that black stuff.
Why should they make the coating black? It's easier to tell it's not twisted this way. :D

I like them a LOT, and I like my bike plenty, too, but I have to wonder, if they don't go with this bike (I agree they're sort of 'off'), what bike WOULD they go with? It's an aero bike - do they belong only on a TT bike? I know people associate the natural casing look with 'vintage' but there's something about it that just looks right with the big glossy rims as well as the silver hubs....

Not a fan of the weave - it's a dated look, IMO (in fairness, I feel the same way about the weave on my 2009 frame).

Ugly wheels with those tires.. aero rims should be laced radial.. not crossed... especially for the front wheel..

Ditto last two post :rolleyes:

OK. Not surprised that they aren't going over well, but was curious whether anyone would see the same thing in them and think they were sexy-hot, as I do.

When I first saw them on their original bike (something real fancy, like a Colnago or Pegoretti, don't recall what exactly) on the floor of the shop, I thought they didn't look right - not for the bike, and not for me, either - but when they were handed to me when I was telling the shop owner of my interest in tubulars, I was very much attracted; I thought they were gorgeous - almost too gorgeous.

I know that with such big rims, radial spokes are what you normally see - and they're typically black, too. Big-rim wheels usually aren't sparkly and glossy. More often than not, the flash comes from the graphics. That's what I like about these - the flash comes from the material.

Like many, I'm not really keen on the specific color of the sidewalls, but I do like how it delineates the transition between rubber and rim. Maybe if they were bleached.... ;) Also, generally speaking, I'm not keen on the big weave, but on these wheels, it seems totally proportionate.

Who knows, maybe this will just be a brief fling. It's not a big deal that they aren't very versatile - planning to get something with 35mm rims for windier, climb-ier days, and I mentioned to the shop owner how I thought maybe the big glossy rims and silver spokes and hubs maybe weren't such a great match for the Propel. What would they look good with? Well, the shop is putting together a Pinarello TT bike (seems to be an older frame - an FP8, I think).... the proprietor sort of joked that I could sell them to that guy for $100 bucks more than I paid, to make a quick profit! :D

I do dig gum walls, and that wheel/tire combo could work for me on certain bikes. Putting the wheels on your silky comforter is super weird, however, and made me feel like a weirdo for looking at it...:lol:

Dan

ftw!

Not a fan of the bed.

My T1
 

Coming from a Specialized Tarmac and tired of the off-the-shelf bikes here in Japan, I bought a Litespeed T1 frame locally, Campagnolo Chorus groupset, and Campagnolo Zonda rims laced with 25s Schwalbe Ones from Wiggle, and slapped them together with dimensions similar to my Tarmac as a starting point for fine tuning the fit. The bike felt awesome and smooth. Not great pics since one was done during the ride, but there is another one indoors.

That seat angle...that's gonna get you some trouble in this thread :-/

That, and the aero bars, the stem angle and height, the handlebar angle, the dust caps, the cross chaining and the pedals.

All I can say is that it has potential. Just not as is.

Yeah, I expect that. If I were 25 years younger then I would probably be able to handle changing it to the proper angle, but as I tweak it then it will get closer.

Those plastic/chrome dust caps are ugly aren't they? They will be changed to some nice ones soon. The cross chaining is cuz the pic was taken at the top of a small but steep hill at the end of the ride where jumping to the small ring and also downshifting would result in losing all of the momentum. Its just easier to upshift 2-3 times for that 80m or so. But I do agree that it makes better sense to use the proper gears for climbs, particularly long ones.

I can still adjust the bar, stem ...etc. It is my first build though.

Lay off my aero bars though :P

First thing I think when I see that Litespeed is that you really are not clued in on bike fit. Can't comment on the rest because it has already been said. Fit of this bike automatically makes it not hot.

It is pretty comfortable while on the hoods and on the aero bars. What do you think I should do to make it as comfortable as possible on both while not sacrificing much speed?

The seat angle suggest that the only way you like to ride is on the aero bars, as if you're trying to sort of wedge yourself between the seat post and the bars. Interesting....

You are correct :) I do spend most time on the aerobars because I am on this bike to exercise not sight see, and that allows me to put down power. I have another bike for sight seeing ;)

As for the bike, it fits me damn near perfectly. I know that some people want to slam the stem, level the bars and fart about with the seat to meet some standard of beauty, but during the build I did exactly that and it felt like crap.

So, I went back to my original calculations, and put all of those the way they are in the pic and it fits me nicely. I might adjust the seat height a centimes or two and maybe change the angle a little to fine tune it, but despite what Mr. "It took over a year and several thousand miles of riding to get it (my bike fit) nailed down" writes about me being needed to get "clued in" I think I got it almost perfect on my first try.

Its all good though. This thread is about art, not function ;)

Yes. So why that frame (one that riders more inclined to sight-seeing might like) rather than a TT frame? I trust your "sight seeing" bike isn't a Cervelo P3 frame. ;)

Nah, I wish :P I have a simple aluminum Merida Crossway 150 with Shimano Claris on 28s. Its perfect as a commuter here in Tokyo and for a slow jaunt down to the river to keep the wife happy.

The T1, in my own words, is Litespeed's attempt at making a bike stiff enough to compete with the carbon bikes while still harboring some of the qualities of titanium's ability to soften the ride. Hence the 6Al4V titanium in the top tube and 3Al2.5V everywhere else. While it is a bit heavier than carbon and usually more expensive, I got it because I wanted to try titanium, know it is durable, tired of numb fingers, there are few titanium bikes here in Japan, and not least still be able to hoof it, which I am always doing if I am on it.

I haven't tried another titanium bike but I am sold on it as a material for frames. carbon is lighter, cheaper and faster, but barring crashes this bike will last me until arthritis sets in and my skin is weathered :lol:

How are you calculating this? Honestly to me it looks like you made one bad adjustment which caused you to make another bad adjustment to compensate for the first bad adjustment. Which in turn made you make another bad adjustment to compensate ad nauseam.

Can I ask if there is a specific reason for the aerobars? Are you training for a tri? Time trail event you are entered in? Or are they for comfort while riding or do you just want to ride faster? I did a tri years ago and I bought a set specifically for the race, but then took them off after and ended up selling them right after the race. Found out I love running and cycling (already knew that), but getting kicked in the head and essentially open fist punched repeatedly while swimming wasn't my cup of tea.